H-3088.3  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 2496

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      53rd Legislature     1994 Regular Session

By Representatives King and Fuhrman

Read first time 01/17/94.  Referred to Committee on Fisheries & Wildlife.

Concerning the sale of surplus salmon eggs by the state.

    AN ACT Relating to food fish; and amending RCW 75.08.245.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 75.08.245 and 1988 c 115 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The legislature finds that the department sells surplus eggs every year as part of the state hatchery salmon production cycle.  The legislature has authorized the department to sell surplus salmon eggs to any person, at any cost, for use in cultivation of salmon in any location.  The legislature finds that surplus salmon eggs are a valuable commodity and should be sold in a manner that reflects their maximum value to bring needed income to state government.

The legislature finds that the majority of subsidized state eggs are exported to foreign private aquatic farmers who use them to produce pen-reared salmon that compete in international markets with Washington raised farmed salmon and salmon harvested by commercial fishers.

The legislature further finds that the implementation of this law has an adverse impact on private aquatic farmers in the state.  Private aquatic farmers have attempted to develop improved commercial salmon broodstock for commercial egg production and have been unsuccessful because the below market price of state eggs, resulting from not being sold on a competitive bid basis, has degraded the market price so dramatically that development of a captive broodstock is not economically feasible.

Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature that live surplus salmon eggs and other live reproductive salmon materials produced by the state shall be sold on a competitive bid basis to raise needed income for the state and bring a price in parity with the average sale price for salmon eggs produced elsewhere.

(2) The department may ((supply, at a reasonable charge,)) sell, on a competitive bid basis, live surplus salmon eggs and other live reproductive salmon materials to a person for use in the cultivation of salmon.  "Live reproductive salmon materials" means salmon sperm, gametes, and gonades.  The department shall not intentionally create a surplus of salmon to provide live eggs or live reproductive salmon materials for sale.  The department shall only sell live salmon eggs or live reproductive salmon materials from stocks that are not suitable for salmon population rehabilitation or enhancement in state waters in Washington.  All sales or transfers shall be consistent with the department's egg transfer ((and)), aquaculture disease control regulations, and other relevant rules as now existing or hereafter amended.  Prior to department determination that live eggs or other live reproductive salmon materials of a salmon stock are surplus and available for sale, the department shall assess the productivity of each watershed that is suitable for receiving live eggs.

    ((The salmon enhancement advisory council, created in RCW 75.48.120, shall consider egg sales at each meeting.)) The department shall develop procedures, through rules, for competitive bidding on surplus salmon egg and other reproductive salmon materials sales, to include establishing a fee to collect the cost of the competitive bid procedures to be paid by the successful purchaser at the competitive bid sale.

(3) An aggrieved person may bring a legal action, to include injunctive relief, to enforce this section.

(4) Volunteer cooperatives set out under chapter 75.52 RCW are exempt from the requirements of this section.

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